Some UNC students feel uninformed about lab accessibility upgrades

When junior Laura Saavedra Forero, a neuroscience major, enrolled in Chemistry 241 for the fall semester, she said she got an email from the lab director stating that there were new facilities they wanted to show her. 

Saavedra Forero, a wheelchair user, said she entered the lab and saw an accessible lab workbench. 

“My eyes watered,” she said. 

Though she said she has had previous classes in Morehead Chemistry Labs, Saavedra Forero said none of them have been accessible.

Lab rooms 400 and 401 in Morehead Labs were renovated to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2021. 

Although the rooms are the only accessible labs in Morehead Labs, Tyler Motley, supervisor of undergraduate labs, said the renovated space will hopefully lead investors to fund future ADA-compliant projects. Accessibility in Morehead Labs is quite lacking and problematic, he said.

"Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we can get all of our spaces so all the diverse students with diverse needs on campus can take advantage of chemistry labs," he said.

Some students with disabilities are finding out about the 2021 changes this semester. Saavedra Forero and senior Sarah Ferguson, who majors in neuroscience and biology, were among that group. 

“I have been constantly asking and fighting since my freshman year to get an accessible lab space that I was constantly told was not there,” Ferguson said. 

Ferguson and Saavedra Forero are members of Crips in College, a club advocating for improved accessibility on UNC's campus. 

Saavedra Forero said the club aims to create a greater movement surrounding accessibility in higher education. 

In a Sept. 27 Instagram post, Crips in College said the Morehead Labs renovation was "only made possible thanks to the tireless advocacy of disabled students on campus."

"It’s not perfect by any means, BUT for the first time, wheelchair users can navigate around a lab, get under a lab bench, wash their hands/use a sink, and perform experiments with the help of non-disabled folks," the post said. 

Saavedra Forero said accessible lab spaces have “always been one of our main demands.” 

She also said Crips in College mentioned the inaccessibility of the labs to University leadership multiple times due to safety concerns and impacts on students' education.

Both Saavedra Forero and Ferguson have spent time in inaccessible lab spaces over the past two years at UNC because they were told there was not a wheelchair-accessible option available. 

Saavedra Forero said she had no access to safety equipment in these labs, jeopardizing her safety. Ferguson also said she had safety concerns in the inaccessible labs.

“I don’t know if I want to throw up or cry, because I stepped into a lab space almost every semester, once a week, putting my safety at risk because I’m working with stuff at face height," Ferguson said. "I was doing things and not being able to participate in a way that everyone else does."

Saavedra Forero and Ferguson said they have attended multiple administration meetings advocating for more accessibility features throughout campus and were never informed of any accessibility changes in the labs. 

“I’ve brought it up to [Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz] countless times, senior staff, and I’ve had to do labs in that building on a different floor in non-accessible labs, so I think that goes to show the lack of regard for my safety, for my humanity and for the things I am asking for,” Saavedra Forero said. 

Ferguson said she was also informed of the ADA-compliant labs by her chemistry professor at the start of the fall semester. Neither she nor Saavedra Forero learned any information about the accessibility additions from the University, they said.

Motley said University leadership is beginning to acknowledge accessibility issues. 

In response to concerns voiced by students regarding accessibility, the University formed a "working group” to address the issues in spring 2023, according to UNC Media Relations.

Members of the working group include students and senior UNC staff, and they meet regularly to discuss future projects and learn about “areas of concern.” This group was formed following the renovations in Morehead Labs in 2021. 

“A safe and accessible campus is our priority, and we are committed to working through any accommodation requests or concerns that may arise,” Media Relations said. 

“People in places of power in the University are starting to realize we need to make this happen,” Motley said. 

While she said she had minimal faith in the University to begin with, Ferguson said she loses trust in UNC each time she faces an issue that compromises her safety and humanity. 

“I had little trust in them from the moment I got trapped in my building,” she said. 

Ferguson said she was trapped in her third-floor residence hall room for five and a half days due to a broken elevator during her sophomore year. 

She said that is when she lost 90 percent of her trust in the University. Another five percent, she said, was lost when she was stuck on the third floor of Hanes Art Center after the elevator broke, and she was not evacuated until more than seven hours after her class ended. The new information about lab accessibility has lessened her trust even more, she said.

“I think I’m at one percent," Ferguson said. "I think I maybe have one percent trust in the administration of this University."

Both Ferguson and Saavedra Forero said they feel like their humanity is not acknowledged when they are unable to fully participate in labs like other students. 

Media Relations said inaccessibility is important to Guskiewicz and he has met with student advocates to learn more about what they need so that solutions can be properly implemented. 

Ferguson said she is working to attain wheelchair accessibility improvements on campus not for herself, but for those who will come after her. 

“My education is important too," she said. "I am just as valid. I can do the same things as anybody else can if you just give me the damn opportunity to do those things." 

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